9. roast beet, lentil & balsamic onion salad This recipe is an all-time favourite. The only thing is, if you want to keep it in the ‘assemble’ rather than cooking category you’ll need to use canned lentils and shop-bought cooked beets and onions.

10. a few of my favourite things salad Aka shaved beet and asparagus salad with goats cheese. A brilliant example of where finely slicing vegetables can remove the need to cook.

11. coronation cauliflower A more unusual dish of finely chopped raw cauliflower tossed in a creamy dressing spiked with a little curry powder. Served with coriander leaves (cilantro) for freshness and almonds for crunch and to make it more substantial.

12. toblerone ice cream Just because you don’t feel like cooking, doesn’t mean you don’t need something sweet! Also check out this post for 7 other deadly ‘no bake’ desserts.

Green Chickpea Salad

serves 2

Canned chickpeas are one of my go-to items when I’m looking for something quick. This salad started out without the chilli or greens but has evolved over the years.

The chilli is very much optional but adds some lovely warmth.

This is a pretty forgiving salad and will keep in the fridge for a few hours or even overnight without any ill effects – so it’s great for work lunches or picnics.

lighter – replace the cavalo nero or kale with a few handfuls of rocket (arugula) or baby spinach.

legume-free – replace the chickpeas with 2-3 hard boiled eggs.

carnivore – serve with finely sliced proscuitto draped over the top.

chicken salad – add in some shredded BBQ chicken as well as or instead of the chickpeas. other legumes – replace the chickpeas with other cooked or canned legumes such as lentils, white beans, black beans, split peas or butter beans. You’ll need about 250g (9oz) of cooked legumes.

warm salad – heat chickpeas in a little olive oil in a pan or the microwave before tossing in the salad.

great post with some wonderful ideas. I make a raw kale salad with cavolo nero that’s just like this but without the chickpeas. What a wonderful combination. And just by the way, it’s cavolo nero not cavalo:)!

I just finished a marathon day with cinnamon rolls for breakfast, pizza and cake for lunch and three young children in tow. I saw this recipe and was surprised to realize I had nearly all the ingredients in my kitchen or garden. I collected some winter chard, traded the sherry vinegar for some apple cider vinegar and left out the red pepper but added some ground black pepper. Great end of the day meal for a beat out mom!

Great chickpea salad, thanks for sharing Jules. I’ve made it twice now and prefer it with the Lacinato kale rather than the curly kind. But today that’s all I had on hand. Toasted pine nuts thrown in adds a little crunch. Delicious as is though.

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I just made your chickpea and feta salad (all the way over in S. Africa!) – delish! I didn’t have pine nuts so I toasted some sunflower seeds and added those. I didn’t have any salad leaves either, so I chopped up a celery stick instead. I also then had an aubergine in the fridge which I grilled and cut up and added. It basically got my creative juices flowing and I realised that with chickpeas, lemon juice and olive oil as your base, you can basically add anything for variation and create some really yummy combinations for a lunch-time salad. Thanks SO much for the inspiration, I find lunches SUCH a bore so am LOVING your recipes. I’m going to share this on my blog for my followers :-)